Plans
by Jessunflower
Summary: They were supposed to go back to the past together. He just wanted them to feel like a normal teenage couple. But oftentimes things just don't go as planned. An AU where Chrome dies unable to create her own illusionary organs after Mukuro fights Byakuran. One-shot for 8096 (Yamamoto x Chrome). Rated T for Gokudera's potty mouth. Cover from Blacky Chwan on zerochan. DISCONTINUED.


**A/N:** I'm still writing the fourth chapter for AD&amp;C, but for the meantime, here's a short and sweet 8096 oneshot. I'm actually really proud of this piece; hopefully you guys will like it as much as I do. Please leave a review for me to improve, if that's not too much trouble.

* * *

"That guy isn't even a doctor, what the fuck does he think he's doing?" Gokudera spat.

"Hibari… has plans of his own, I guess." I didn't know what he was thinking, but I really wished I did. It was bad enough that Kusakabe refused to let us into the room while Hibari was in there alone with our dying Mist Guardian, but we weren't informed of what he intended on doing. As fellow guardians, we have the right to know. Heck, even our boss didn't know what Hibari had planned, if he had a plan at all.

"That's why I fucking asked, baseball idiot. What IS his damn plan?!"

"I… I don't know." I really didn't. I couldn't give him any sort of rebuttal regarding the nickname because I knew it was true; baseball was essentially my life and my only true passion. It was the only _thing_ I could spend hours thinking about. If we're talking about individuals… well, then that's a different story.

Gokudera, unsatisfied with my response, continued his seemingly endless rant, spitting out every curse word that has probably ever been introduced to mankind— perhaps even inventing a few—and pacing back and forth from the one side of the room to the other. There are simply not enough vulgar terms in the world for this man to properly express his anger.

My own thoughts, more persistent than ever, clouded my head and all I could think about was Chrome; her long indigo hair in an adorable updo, the mysterious skull eye patch, and the distinct softness in her voice. The Storm Guardian's uncensored ramblings eventually faded away and I couldn't hear him anymore. I just needed to know if Chrome would be okay. I just needed to know where Mukuro was. I just needed to know what happened to him. If things were to ever come down to the worst case scenario for Mukuro, the equivalent would happen to Chrome. Whatever happened to that man also happened to our female illusionist, and that was something that I—no, _we_, the Vongola family, could not afford. That man essentially held Chrome's life in his hands, and I unfortunately had no choice but to trust him with it.

The tapping of Kusakabe's shoes pulled the breaks on my train of thought as they approached the meeting room entrance. They finally arrived at the door like a signal for the entire room to silence. And of course Tsuna, being the kind-hearted person that he has always been, asked him questions before anyone else could even open their mouth.

"Kusakabe-san! How's Chrome? Is she okay? How did it go? What happened?" It all came out of his mouth in a jumbled and rushed and panicky voice and I was unsure if everything he wanted to get across registered correctly in Kusakabe's mind. Gokudera, on the other hand, wasted no time to get the response he wanted.

"Don't just stand there! Spit it out, you bastard!" He clenched the shirt fabric of the former Disciplinary Committee member with his ringed fingers. "We're all sitting here, waiting for your ass to tell us what the bloody fuck your goddamn "leader" is up to." Allowing his tongue to roll over the word _leader _for emphasis, the bomber dug into the right pocket of his worn out jeans with his free hand. He did so while still looking at Kusakabe with flames for eyes; not literal dying will flames or flames of a normal fire, but with the green flames that he was born with, the ones in his eye sockets that could burn the insides of any individual he made eye contact with. He then pulled out his pack of cigarettes, flicked a stick out of the box with his thumb, and shoved it in between his lips.

If Kusakabe was trying to convince us that everything was okay, he wasn't trying hard enough. His facial expression didn't offer any sign of positives. His eyes, in juxtaposition to Gokudera's, were as empty as my water bottle at the end of baseball practice. His mouth was a mere straight line. He shook his head and it was like I instinctively knew I certainly wasn't going to be thrilled with what he was going to say next.

"_Chrome Dukuro… is no longer with us."_

As soon as he had finished his sentence, my heart hit the floor and shattered. I felt an instantaneous twinge of pain in my chest. It was like I had been shot, but I wasn't bleeding. It was like some kind of hole or void had to have been made inside me, because it felt like a part of me with missing. Everything and everyone around me blurred together into some kind of weird incomprehensible distortion, and the only thing I could do without releasing an unexpected outburst or scream in that room was run both my hands through my hair with my elbows on the table as if I was a stressed business CEO.

Everything after that is one gigantic blur, because the next thing I knew, I was running.I ran and ran and ran to her patient's room as if it was home base. I ran as if it was our championship game in its final inning, and we were down by three with the bases loaded. I ran as if we had two outs, and I needed to make this run to win. The text of the door signs were fuzzy and unreadable as I ran past, but I didn't need to read them anyway. After several trips to Chrome's room to check on her condition, I knew well where she was.

As the door of her bedroom grew closer to me, I mentally prepared myself for what I would see on the inside. But before I could throw the door open myself, it moved on its own, and out stepped Tsuna's Cloud Guardian: Hibari. I slowed my run down to a stop. Sweat trickled down my forehead and I wiped it with the back of my left hand as I caught my breath. I had so much to say to him but the words were caught in the back of my throat. I couldn't force them out as much as I wanted to, as much as I _needed _to. I wanted to yell at him and scream at him and curse him out, just so that I could make clear what exactly he had done to me, to Chrome, and to the Family, but something held me back. And I couldn't for the life of me understand what it was.

Our lack of speech simply resulted in an exchange of sharp glares. The bastard didn't intimidate me in the slightest and perhaps my eyes told a better story than my words ever would have, but I'll never find out because he too, didn't speak a word. He just… merely walked away to go who-knows-where, and for more groundless, inscrutable reasons, I didn't bother to stop him. All I did was wonder how he could live with himself. How the hell could he just parade around with that damned expressionless face as if he didn't just allow Chrome to die? I could never read his facial expressions; they all looked the same to me. I wasn't able to identify if it was all a façade, if it was his aloof nature, if he was smug with himself… It had me disoriented for a moment too long.

Before I dared to step inside the room, I took in a few extra breaths. I didn't have the time to really think about what I was going to see, much less prepare myself. If my quivering knees weren't an obvious enough indication, I was terrified. I inched toward her, one foot in front of the other, at slow pace until I reached her bed side. I looked down at the woman I had fought with, learned with, and desired to grow old with, and that's when I knew the extra breaths I took in probably didn't make any difference than if I were to not take them in at all. My clenched fists loosened, my voice was lost, and I almost fell to my knees upon the sight of her unbreathing, lifeless body.

* * *

I never knew that I'd get so emotional looking at a rock.

"I'll never adjust to looking at your name carved into this thing." I told her grave. "I… really miss having someone to hold. And I'm going to miss… getting that warm hug and long kiss from you after baseball games." My voice began to waver, but I let out a weak chuckle.

"Alright fine, I haven't played a baseball game ever since we came here to the future, but I mean… now… even if we were to go back to the past by some miracle… I don't really have anything to look forward to after those games now. Well, that is if I decide to continue playing. I don't think if I have the motivation to do so anymore. But you know, it's nice to know that… I'm not the only one who misses you."

Her tombstone was surrounded by several bouquets from other allied families. Being the Mist Guardian, most of these bouquets donned hues of indigo. It was an enigmatic color, and it always did suit her well. All the flowers complimented one another in some way, but my bouquet stood out like a marker in a crayon box. It was the only bunch that consisted of scarlet roses. It was another color that suited her, but in a different, arcane way. In a way that I believed only I understood.

People wouldn't look at Chrome and think of a color so bold— a color that's seemingly too bold for someone as delicate and beautiful as she, but that's where people would err. There's a point where you've spent so much time with someone, that you discover things about them that no one else knows; not even the person themselves. There's a point where you notice but you don't really observe. There's a point where people somehow sporadically change, right before your very eyes, sometimes over a long span of time, and sometimes just as you blink. She never realized it, but red was just as dangerous, yet just as indecipherable and passionate as she was. She was the color in my world; she was the marker in my crayon box. She was intense. She was red.

Tsuna told me to place my bouquet right in the center of all the other flowers left for her. He saved a place for specifically my bouquet, like how children save seats for their best friends on a school bus. He told me that he ensured no one else put their bouquet there because "it was reserved for who Chrome cared for the most". I smiled at the thought and silently thanked my boss in my head. It was a small thing, but it meant a lot and I'm glad he went out of his way to do that for me.

"It's February 13th." I said. "That means it's only been a week since you left." I wanted to say that I hadn't been counting the days, but I had. It was something that couldn't be helped when it was so easy to keep track of how many sleepless nights I had endured.

"You know, I actually had a plan for the stuff we'd do tomorrow. It was... foolish but I'd go along with it anyway despite the voice in the back of my head nagging me ceaselessly that it was a bad idea." That's when took a moment to really look back at my own rash, love-struck actions and thoughts. I guess love really does change people.

"I would've made you makeshift sushi as an attempt at a romantic lunch despite the lack of toppings here in the base, and then we'd eat before training together. I would convince you into tricking Giannini with illusions so we could sneak out of the base, even if it was just for an hour. You'd originally be against it, but I would try and persuade you by explaining that through your illusions, we could be temporarily free from the strict preparation and rules, and the hardcore life of the mafia. We could just… feel like we're doves, you know? For once in this cruel world I wanted us to feel like we were a normal teenage couple, because after all we've been through so far, I thought that's what we deserved. I believed that the end of that last line would be what would have finally won you over, by the way. Once we were out, I'd end up buying you a gift that you probably wouldn't even like, like a baseball bat because baseball is the only world I know, but you'd laugh cutely like you always did and would say thank you anyway." I grinned as I played out the whole scene in my head.

"After that, we'd return to the base and I'd serenade you with the piano Bianchi brought back from her family's old mansion. You'd giggle and tell me that my fingers weren't meant for the grace that piano requires, but meant for the essential firm grip on a baseball bat. Mid-song, I imagined that Gokudera would come in and yell at me to stop playing so horribly, most likely while simultaneously calling me baseball-related names and insults, and at this point you'd be laughing to tears. I'd love seeing you that way because it's when your smile is the biggest, and the most genuine.

To finish the day we'd go cuddle in your room, because we both know that Tsuna and Gokudera wouldn't leave us alone if we went to mine, and cuddles are the best. We would reminisce the days back in the past, because that's what we were both fighting for. You'd then tell me to leave, because if I didn't, you knew I'd end up sleeping with you there and waking up late the next morning, but I'd ensure you that I didn't care and that you mattered to me more than early morning training ever could. We'd drift off to sleep together with my arms around you, and dream about the days when…. school examinations were our biggest problems." I sighed and looked down at the words engraved on her tombstone.

_In Memory of Chrome Dukuro  
10__th__ Generation Vongola Guardian of Mist  
Forever in our thoughts; too well loved to ever be forgotten._

My eyes grew misty and I tried to blink back the tears, but even a week later, I still couldn't believe that the statement "Chrome Dukuro… is no longer with us." was actually true. It wasn't fair. None of it was. I couldn't help but conduct an interview with the sweet nothings in back of my head. What did the Family do to deserve something so tragic? What did Chrome do? What did _I_ do? What could I have done?

"If only life worked out how we wanted," I said aloud. "If only things were different... If only I could have protected you. If only I could've done something… anything. I question sometimes, if it's my fault, but I know that if you were here, you'd pat me on the shoulder and tell me not to blame myself, because that's the kind of loving girlfriend and beautiful person you were." I then looked up to the clouds before heading back.

"I love you, Chrome Dukuro. More than words will ever be able to describe."


End file.
